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HALO 4 to honor memory of Mississippi teen

One of the biggest video games of the year hits stores next week, and it will honor the memory of a Gluckstadt teenager.

The game is HALO 4, and Cade Ainsworth was one of its biggest fans. 16 WAPT's Megan West reported that the game gave the young cancer patient something to live for.

One can learn a lot about Ainsworth by from his bedroom. He loved the band Green Day, and a panda named Willy, but nothing more than the video game called HALO.

"HALO was one of the ones I did allow," said Cade's mother Dianna Ainsworth.

Dianna Ainsworth didn't love that shooting virtual aliens was her son's favorite pastime, but she could never have guessed the role the game would play in his life.

"He was a healthy 13-year-old boy, or so we thought. He was very active in scouts baseball, going to school," she said. "Next thing we know, he has cancer and it's Stage 4."

Cade's battle with cancer started two years ago when he suddenly got sick on a family vacation. Doctors discovered a tumor the size of a lemon in his abdomen. The cancer had already spread to his lungs.

"I was crying into my pillow praying he wouldn't die or anything," said Cade's sister, Calli Ainsworth, who was 8-years-old when her brother was diagnosed.

"That was the worst feeling in the world as a mama -- to get off the elevator and see hematology oncology and you know what that means for your child," Dianna said.

Every week for a year and a half, Cade visited a clinic for chemo. He lost his hair, his strength and going to school was out of the question.

"He spent two years in his room," Cade's mother said.

Cade kept up with his classes at home and with his friends on his X-box.

Cade covered his bald head with a HALO hat. The game was his lifeline to the outside world.

"He could be just Cade in a video game. He wasn't sick. Cade wasn't bald-headed. Cade he was just Cade," Dianna said.

Cade loved HALO so much that when the creators of the game series learned he was sick they invited him out to Seattle to spend a day at headquarters.

"I would say it was the best day of his life," Dianna said.

There was even talk of getting Cade an advanced copy of the newest game in the series, so he could test it out before it hit stores. But that would never happen. About six months after Cade went into remission, his cancer came back.

"I have never been so floored in my life as going in for a regular scan and being told the cancer is back," Dianna said.

This time, there was no hope for a cure. Cade chose not to take any more debilitating chemo. Doctors thought he had six months.

"We left that hospital and we decided that we would make of list of everything he ever wanted to do, and we started finding ways to do it," Dianna said.

There was a trip to Florida, family pictures and many, many hours playing HALO.

"It gave him a chance to be the hero and win at something when he had no control over anything in his life," Dianna said.

On July 12, surrounded by his family, Cade died.

Weeks later, Dianna said the people with HALO wrote her and said they wanted to honor Cade in the game by listing his name in a special section of HALO 4, called fittingly, "Heroes Never Die."

Today, Cade lives on in his friends and his little sister.

"I learned he was brave," Callie said.

And he lives on in the parents who still keep his room ready, just in case someone wants to play.

Cade's family said they're taking the loss one day at a time.

The new HALO 4 game featuring Cade's name in its special section arrives in stores Nov. 6.

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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said Sunday it was "very alarmed" by reports of widespread doping by track and field athletes in major competitions including the Olympic Games and world championships.